Newsmakers

From Tuesday, September 22 until Sunday, September 27, Pope Francis will take his first-ever trip into the United States, making stops in Washington, DC, New York, and Philadelphia. Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. will follow his two-day tour of Cuba. If you are in need of experts to discuss this monumental trip, staff and faculty from Fordham University’s department of theology, Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, and Center on Religion and Culture are available to speak on the following topics:

Papal Experts:

Patrick Hornbeck, PhD (broadcast or print interviews)
The chair of the department and an associate professor of theology, Hornbeck is an expert on the Papacy and the history of Christianity, with a focus on the interplay between the shifting categories of “heresy” and “orthodoxy” in medieval and early modern Christianity; and on affiliation, identity, and on issues of marginalization in contemporary Roman Catholicism.
PRINT: In this piece for the Washington Post, he tackles the Church and same sex couples.
VIDEO: He discussed the Pope’s upcoming NYC visit on NY1. He talked about the upcoming and controversial canonization of Junipero Serra on Al Jazeera America.
Contact: [email protected]

Terrence Tilley, PhD (broadcast or print interviews)
The Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. Professor of Catholic Theology
Also a papal expert, Tilley works in philosophical theology and philosophy of religion. He also works on particular topics in systematic theology. He uses an eclectic philosophical approach focused on the nature and rationality of faith, Christology as a practical discipline, the problems of evil, the particular relationships of history, theology and faith, and the Catholic tradition.
VIDEO: Here he is discussing the Pope and climate change on CBS News.
Contact Tilley: [email protected]

Father Claudio Burgaleta, PhD
Associate professor at our Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, Fr. Burgaleta is a Cuban-born Jesuit and can talk at length about Latin Americans and the Catholic Church.
PRINT: He recently discussed the Pope’s desire to make Latino Catholicism a centerpiece of his upcoming U.S. trip with Religion News.
Contact Fr. Burgaleta: [email protected]

Michael E. Lee, PhD (broadcast or print interviews)
Church in Latin America
PRINT: Quoted in this AP story about the Pope’s recent visit to three of South America’s poorest countries.
AUDIO/VIDEO: On Michael Smerconis’s show on CNN: Pope’s visit will make election more interesting
Contact Lee: [email protected]
Twitter: @michaeleleephd

Maureen Tilley, PhD
A professor of theology, Tiley is an expert in the practice of Christianity in ancient and medieval times, martyrdom, roles for women, ecclesiastical art, and the fit between liturgy and architecture, and Latin American theology.
VIDEO: Here she is discussing Pope Francis and possible changed within the Church on Pix 11. She also discussed the significance of the Pope’s election to Latin American Catholics on Fox News Latino.
Contact Tilley: [email protected]

Michael Peppard, PhD
Peppard is an assistant professor of theology and an expert in early Christianity, Jewish-Christian relations, and Catholicism in American public life.
PRINT: Here is his recent op-ed on the Pope’s encyclical in Commonweal.
VIDEO: On MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry Show, Peppard discusses Pope Francis’ stance against fracking and emphasis on preserving the environment.
Contact Peppard: [email protected]
Twitter: @MichaelPeppard

Thomas Beaudoin, PhD
Associate professor of theology at Fordham’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, Tom Beaudoin is an expert on ‘disaffiliated’/’inactive’ Catholics and the Pope’s engagement with ‘secular’ culture.
PRINT: Here is an op-ed he wrote for Fox News Latino on the Pope’s upcoming trip to the U.S.
Contact Beaudoin: [email protected] or 650-804-4628

Charles Camosy, PhD (print or broadcast interviews)
Associate professor of theology,Camosy is an expert on bioethics, animals/ecology, and the relationship between ethics and politics. He is the author of For Love of Animals (2013) and Beyond the Abortion Wars (2015) 
PRINT: He was recently quoted in the Christian Science Monitor on the Pope’s encyclical.
VIDEO: Here, Camosy considers Jesus’ possible diet.
Contact Camosy: [email protected]
Twitter: @nohiddenmagenta

Christiana Peppard, PhD (broadcast or print interviews)
Assistant professor of theology, science and ethics, Peppard is an expert on Catholic social teaching, environmental ethics, and fresh water ethics. She is the author of Just Water: Theology, Ethics and the Global Water Crisis (2014) and co-editor of Just Sustainability: Ecology, Technology and Resource Extraction (2015).
PRINT: She has discussed the Pope’s encyclical with The New York Times, and in her op-ed for The Washington Post.
VIDEO: Here she is discussing Pope Francis and climate change with MSNBC.
Contact Peppard: [email protected]
Twitter: @ProfPeppard

 Colt Anderson, PhD
He is the dean of Fordham’s Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education and has previously taught courses on medieval and reformation church history, systematic theology, Catholic social teaching, and interfaith dialogue.
PRINT: He was quoted last November on the Catholic Church and its involvement in policy and politics.
Contact Anderson: [email protected]

Jim McCartin, PhD
Associate professor and director of Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture, McCartin is an expert on the history of U.S. Catholicism, American religious history, and spirituality. McCartin’s book, Prayers of the Faithful: The Shifting Spiritual Life of American Catholics (2010), explores prayer both as an object of study and an active force in people’s lives, and it demonstrates how American Catholics’ beliefs and spiritual practices changed alongside American society and culture from the 1860s to the 1980s.
AUDIO: Here he is on spirituality and the transformation of American Catholicism.
Contact McCartin: [email protected]

Non-Theology faculty

Kimberly Casteline, PhD, (Rose Hill)
A member of our communication and media studies department, she specializes in Religion and Media.
Contact Casteline: [email protected]